$1 of customer spend mints $80m in valuations: the Harvey-Anthropic circular revenue math

tekbog · x · 2026-09-23

@gordoncassie lays out double counting in AI VC: Harvey raised at an $11b valuation on $200m ARR (50x revenue) in March 2026, yet by June spent $1.50 with Anthropic for every $1 of revenue. Anthropic raised at $965b with a $47b run rate (20x). The same dollar inflates both valuations — $1m of customer spend becomes $80m in combined markup. @tekbog notes many VC funds hold stakes in both companies and benefit from the circular economy as long as valuations — which they set themselves — keep rising.

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